Look Inside 'Video Games New York,' An Old School Gamer's Paradise

Giulio Graziani is the owner of Video Games New York. Located just around the corner from The Village Voice headquarters and NYU's Journalism School, this little shop boasts a blindingly yellow awning so bright no one could ever miss it (we actually spotted the store from two blocks away).

The inside of this quiet little store, however, is an old school gamer's paradise.

The walls are stacked from floor to ceiling with old, used, modern, and imported game cartridges, game consoles, and iconic game paraphernalia that would send even the mildest gamer into video game shock.

Opened in 2005, this store has become a gaming icon both in New York City and throughout the country. As Graziani told us, a good amount of people know about the store and if they don't, well, it's the first hit if you google video games in New York.

It's also a video game museum showcasing the evolution of gaming history, from the very first console prototypes to the modern and flashy PSP and Nintendo 3DS. "Video games are a part of American history," Graziani told us, "it's a culture and its important to showcase this cultural heritage."

"What I learned living in Italy is that your present is determined by your past. So when I opened this store I tried to create something that would show people exactly how video games got to the present. Video Games New York is truly part-store, part-museum – a timeline and logic of what video game culture is."

Here's the yellow awning – there are life-size Mario and Sonic statues in the store window that you can't miss.

Kim Bhasin, Business Insider

Here's a Hyperkin SupaBoy right up front.

Kim Bhasin, Business Insider

And some PSP games up on display.

Kim Bhasin, Business Insider

There were stacks and stacks of old game cartridges for the NES.

Kim Bhasin, Business Insider

Remember the Sega Saturn?

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Rows of used game cartridges for the GameBoy Color.

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Of course, you could also buy a GameBoy and GameBoy Color.

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Check out the difference in package size! They're both the same Nintendo 3DS XL (or LL, as they call it in Japan). But the Japanese version (top) doesn't come with a charger because Nintendo handhelds are so popular in Japan.

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A gamer's paradise – shelves upon shelves of old, used, and brand new games for every kind of console on sale.

Kim Bhasin, Business Insider

Here's the most expensive item in the store: the Nintendo World Championships from 1990 for the NES. Depending on who the customer is, the piece is valued between 10K and 20K. Giulio's last offer for it was $18,000 - he calls it the "Holy Grail," the symbol of an era.

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Here's one of the many imported games he carries from Japan. This one is for the PSP.

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We bet you haven't seen one of these in awhile. This is a Nintendo Zapper Light Gun for "Duck Hunt."

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Check out how dusty this is.

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Care for some light reading?

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Before the Oculus Rift, there was the Nintendo Virtual Boy. We used to play these at our local Blockbuster!